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Double Nickels, 2010 Inductees
MidAmerica Music Hall of Fame
LINKS to 17 SONGS FROM A LIVE PERFORMANCE ARE BELOW THIS TEXT AND PICTURE
Bill Niemi, co-proprietor of Euphonic Studio LLC, was honored along with fellow bandmates from Double Nickels as inductees to the MidAmerica Music Hall of Fame. Bill was a founding member of the group in which he played keyboards, guitar, and violin to help create a winning mix of music that propelled the band to the top of the Minneapolis club scene in the late 1970s.
Double Nickels was inducted into the MidAmerica Music Hall of Fame with a performace and awards ceremony on September 18, 2010. The Hall of Fame Board of Directors chooses musicians for this honor based on their contribution to live entertainment. This recognition from peers and music business professionals feels very gratifying for the hard work that we put in to create the band.
How We Got Here
Double Nickels came along at a time when a number of social, political, and cultural factors combined to create an atmosphere that was perfect for something to happen. We were in post-Viet Nam and post-Nixon America, and anti-war political and activists had pretty much packed it in and gone home. We had just lived through the first oil shock, and gas skyrocketed to 75 cents a gallon. We were being asked to conserve, and the Congress passed a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour.
Americans don't like being told how to drive, and so a new game started out on America's freeways called "Let's Get Away With Speeding". On one side, you had the Smokies, named after Smokey the Bear because of the hats that highway patrol officers wear. On the other side, you had the truckers, armed with citizen band radios and radar detectors, plus a sense of teamwork and a willingness to participate in anything that would help ease the boredom of driving hundreds of miles every day of their lives.
Double Nickels realized that there was a new audience emerging. As popular "Grand Old Opry" country limped into the 1970s, it was infiltrated and battered by a new wave of musicians and we were part of that wave. Groups like Pure Prairie League, Poco, the Eagles, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and artists like John Denver. Linda Ronstadt, and Johnny Cash were fightng and beating the Nashville establishment and coming up with a new sound of their own.
Our plan was to harness the natural energy we had as "refugees from rock", package ourselves with a good sound system, disciplined stage show, and above all, unique and interesting arrangements of songs from everywhere and anywhere. Double Nickels was not a songwriting band, but our presentation of material was so unique it functioned as original material. In many ways it was better than original material, because it had glimpses of familiarity that people could hang onto and that is less challenging to an audience of dancers.
I will update this page with more pictures and audio tracks as they become available. Enjoy!
Double Nickels captured live!
These songs were performed live for a radio show on KTCR-FM on October 23, 1977 at Blainbrook Bowl. This was when the club was brand new, and it was a killer place to play. It seated about 500, had a sunken lit dance floor, and great staff. They also had a huge bowling alley and restaurant in other parts of the complex.
The announcer for this show was Don Johnson, and he seemed genuinely excited to be doing some live radio. The band was pumped, as this was a great opportunity for us about a year into our existence. This material has never been released before. Enjoy!
KTCR PLAYLIST
12 Amazing Grace (used to be her favorite song)
13 Thank God I'm a Country Boy